


Sausage Pizza is Not a Euphemism

by ATossForTheAce



Category: The Ascendance Trilogy - Jennifer A. Nielsen
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cuddling, Fluff, I just also like these, I support the canon relationships, M/M, Multi, One Shot Collection, Polyamory, dont expect consistancy, gay fluff, one shots, probably ooc at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 08:13:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16280870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATossForTheAce/pseuds/ATossForTheAce
Summary: A bunch of one shots. Or maybe just this one, I'm really not sure yet.1 - Night Time Antics (fluff)





	Sausage Pizza is Not a Euphemism

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Do I expect anyone to read this? Absolutely not. So enjoy these boys being gay and dumb.

Roden came home to a melody being hummed from the kitchen. It was quiet, almost mumbled, but their thin walls as well as lack of a door to the kitchen allowed it to carry fine. He dropped his bag on the couch, covering it with his jean jacket to keep them in the same place. Each cushion on the three seat couch had a role- one for his bag and coat, one for Jaron’s, and one for Tobias’. Now that he was home, the only empty cushion was Tobias’.

 

He made his way to the kitchen, following the sound of Jaron’s mumbled singing. The he stood in front of the sink, washing out a bowl and loading it into the dishwasher. If he noticed Roden, which he likely did, he made no mention of it.

 

Cleaning, mumbled singing, and distant behavior meant Jaron was likely forcibly calming himself down from a bad mood. Most of the time when Roden came home, Jaron took every second to be as condescendingly affectionate as possible. It was a joke, they both knew, but Roden would never admit to loving Jaron’s arms around him the second he came home. He never needed to, because judging by how often Jaron still did it.

 

But today there was no overly enthusiastic welcome home, no suffocatingly tight hugs. Today, it seemed, Jaron was the one who needed the welcome home.

 

Neither he nor Jaron were good at feelings talks. That was Tobias’ ground, and even he tended to shove it down or bottle it up. But no matter how bad he was at it, he wasn’t just going to let Jaron sulk and force his emotions down all on his own. So while Jaron was scrubbing the life out of a mug Roden had gotten him for Christmas, Roden came up behind him and snaked his arms around Jaron’s waist.

 

Jaron was just tall enough that he couldn’t comfortably rest his chin on his shoulder, but he could still place a soft kiss to the back of his neck. Jaron, more confused than startled, looked over his shoulder. Roden wasn’t openly affectionate. Not often, at least. But Jaron visibly relaxed after a second of eye contact before he resumed humming.

 

This close, he could hear Jaron over the occasional sound of the sink going on and off. It was a soft melody, one literally anyone who was familiar with western 2000’s music could recognize.

 

“Light’s gone, day’s end, struggling to pay rent. Long nights, strange men…”

 

It was evident now that Jaron was singing more to Roden than himself. So, the smaller turned so his cheek was pressed against Jaron’s back more than his face, and he mumbled along.

 

“..And they say, she’s in the class A team, stuck in her daydream…”

 

Jaron paused again. They continued the rest together, Roden quieter than had ever been in his nature. Truth be told, he was fully aware of his tone-deafness. Something told him that singing along was more important than the pleasantness of the harmony this time.

So they stayed like that until there was no more room in the dishwasher, and Roden had to reluctantly back up to allow Jaron to properly start it. There was no more humming between them, but that didn’t stop Jaron’s small smile.

 

The warmth of it started the smallest spark of one on Roden’s own face.

 

When Jaron rose to his full height, he turned to Roden. He knew, from the uncharacteristically clear look in Jaron’s usually confusingly cloudy eyes, that he was looking for something to say.

 

So Roden broke the silence for him.

 

“...Jaron,” He hummed quietly. Jaron’s head cocked gently, prompting him further. “...Do you want to order pizza and go on a bad movie Netflix binge?”

 

Jaron blinked. The air around him stilled, and the small, warm smile burst into a flame of laughter. Jaron’s laugh was rarely a full belly one, most of the time it was limited to a snicker or a stifled chuckle. It wasn’t the hardest he’d ever laughed, Roden could tell easily, but the sound was soft and warm and so  _ Jaron _ that it brought a soft dove of pride to settle in his chest, the flapping of its wings ringing in his own ears.

 

“Yes, Roden.” He laughed. “Let’s do just that. Are you ordering, or am I?”

 

“Eugh, you can.” Roden chuckled along with him. “I just worked three hours of customer service. I’m done with people and I’m done with phone calls.”

 

“It’s a good thing I’m not a person, then. And do you want sausage?”

 

“You’re an enigma. And is that a euphemism?”

 

Another burst of giggles, this one dying out quicker than the last. “If you want it to be, and I’m taking that as a yes. I’m also getting root beer and grape soda so Tobias doesn’t throw a fit.”

 

Roden disappeared into the bedroom, grabbing the two fluffiest blankets he could find. Winter was settling in, and he knew Tobias would be joining them once he got off work at the library. They’d probably stay on the couch all night, he was definitely going to get a regrettable crick in his neck the next morning, but what did he care? None of them worked Saturdays, he’d make Tobias massage it.

 

When he returned to the living room, Jaron had moved their bags from the couch to the door. They would’ve kept them there instead, and they did, for a while. But it was easier to grab their bags and drop them off on the couch. And did you really expect a trio of college students to prefer organization to functionality? Well, not counting Tobias’ study habits. Those were an entirely different beast.

 

He flung the blankets over the couch and slipped into his designated cushion- the same that was reserved for his bag. Jaron was turning on the TV and talking on the phone, pausing to look Roden in the eye while asking for sausage on one half. Roden held the eye contact for three seconds before rolling his eyes and smiling over at him.

 

Eventually, the phone call ended. Jaron grabbed the remote and slid into the spot next to Roden- he got the middle, and Tobias got the furthest seat to the left. This was occasionally adjusted if one member of the trio was in a particular need of affection, but today the order suited the needs of the members.

 

Tobias arrived five minutes later. He took one look at the snuggled pair on the couch, sighed, and rolled his eyes. He didn’t turn fast enough to hide the smile blooming on his face as he placed his bag next to the others on the floor.

 

Tobias slid into his designated spot. “When is the pizza getting here?” He hummed, reluctantly allowing himself to be yanked into the Cuddling Bundle via Jaron. He twisted for a better angle, his back resting against Jaron’s side, and adjusted his glasses in the process.

 

Jaron half heartedly checked his phone. “Seven minutes, apparently.”

 

“That’s good time for a pizza place on a college campus on a Friday night.” Roden chirped. Jaron cocked his head in reluctant agreement. Tobias pulled a blanket up over his stupidly long legs.

 

“Should we find our first victim?” Jaron questioned. “I vote bad animated movies.” The ultimate gold mine.

 

Roden jumped to agree while Tobias let out a half-hearted groan. The poor English major was going to die tonight, if not through suffocation, through utter frustration at the less than half baked- or more than baked, depending on which context you wanted to use -terribly animated plots. Half the fun was Tobias’ incoherently frustrated rambling, anyway.

 

Ten minutes into an animated movie about snakes- with a  _ snake economy _ , despite being  _ wild _ , Tobias hissed -three loud knocks sounded on the door.

 

“Nose goes!” Jaron shouted, and Roden almost broke his fucking nose with the speed of which he brought his hand up to it.

 

“Wh-” Tobias asked, before realizing what had happened. “...Fine, fine.” He huffed, getting up and grabbing Jaron’s wallet. Jaron started a protest before Tobias stuck his tongue out at him in a rare spark of immaturity.

 

Roden rose to help bring the pizza in and set it on the coffee table before heading into the kitchen to grab paper plates and plastic cups. The dishwasher was still running and he didn’t care to do any more dishes that night.

 

Tobias was sending the delivery guy off, holding two 2-liter sodas in his twig arms when Roden came to set the plates and cups down on the table. Tobias handed him the sodas over the couch, forcing Roden to awkwardly lean over Jaron to grab them. He stood facing them just in time to see Tobias toss Jaron’s wallet back into the unsuspecting boy’s lap.

 

Jaron startled, the expression on his face to foreign to Roden that it forced an unprepared laugh from his throat. Tobias smiled at him, more of a smirk than anything, before sliding back into his usual place on the couch and sarcastically trying to force Jaron back into cuddling him. Jaron’s arms refused to uncross, and Tobias’ smile was slowly growing wider.

 

Roden grabbed a plate from the stack, as well as the piece with the most sausage he could find, before he settled back into place, laughing at his boyfriends’ antics.

 

As he threw the blankets back over his lap, Jaron grabbed his piece, and Tobias grabbed his and a cup of grape soda last. They resumed the movie, Jaron finally wrapping his arms back around Tobias and Roden’s shoulders. Roden wasn’t quite sure how Jaron intended to eat his food this way, but he wasn’t quite sure he cared once he was tugged into a soft embrace.

 

Hours later- three movies in -he was the first to fall asleep. He was also the first to rise, his paper plate- caked with pizza grease -had been taken and placed in the now empty pizza box. A weight rested against his side, Jaron’s natural warmth seeping into his side, along with the rare sight of a peacefully dozing Tobias, his glasses falling off his face. Finally, there was the dangerously stiff crick in his neck.

 

He smiled to himself while he snatched Tobias’ glasses off his face, unable to picture a more perfect early afternoon.


End file.
